• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.534-538
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• 2011

One of the problems for cultivating crops in the mountainous highland is soil erosion and nutrients runoff. Alternative cropping ways were searched to reduce soil erosion and to ensure farm income in the mountainous highland agricultural region. Three edible wild plants including goatsbeard, Korean thistle, and aster, were selected to test as alternative crops to reduce soil erosion in mountain agriculture of highland area. In the first year, the soil losses from the alternative cropping were 26 to 63 percents of the soil loss from summer radish cultivated by conservation tillage with contour and plastic film mulching. The relative soil losses in the second year ranged from 2.8 to 5.5 percents in comparison with radish cultivation. Rapid surface coverage contributed to successive soil loss protection by these alternative crops. Farm net profit of these crops was greater than that of radish. Monitoring of yields of Korean thistle or aster for further experiments, however, might be necessary for economic cultivation due to yield reduction caused by consecutive production.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.435-449
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• 2010

Soils in the sloping uplands in Korea are subject to intensive land use with high input of agrochemicals and are vulnerable to soil erosion. Development of the environmentally sound land management strategy is essential for a sustainable production system in the sloping upland. This report addresses the status of upland agriculture and the best management practices for the uplands toward the sustainable agriculture. More than 60% of Korean lands are forest and only 21% are cultivating paddy and upland. Uplands are about 7% of the total lands and about 62% of the uplands are in the slopes higher than 7%. Due to the site-specificity of the upland, many managerial and environmental problems are occurring, such as severe erosion, shallow surface soils with rocky fragments, and loadings of non-point source (NPS) contaminants into the watershed. Based on the field trials, most of the sloping uplands were classified as Suitability Class III-V and the major limiting factor was slope and rock fragments. Due to this, soils were over-applied with N fertilizer, even though N rate was the recommendation. This resulted in decreases in yield, degradation of soil quality and increases in N loading to the leachate. Various case studies drew management practices toward sustainable production systems. The suggested BMP on the managerial, vegetative, and structural options were to practice buffer strips along the edges of fields and streams, winter cover crop, contour and mulching farming, detention weir, diversion drains, grassed waterway, and slope arrangement. With these options, conservation effects such as reductions in raindrop impact, flow velocity, runoff and sediment loss, and rill and gully erosion were observed. The proper management practice is a key element of the conservation of the soil and water in the sloping upland.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.731-739
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• 2021

This research aimed to analyze the characteristics of topsoil for soil conservation and promote the process of turning subsoil into topsoil. The physicochemical characteristics of topsoil and subsoil of different types of soil were compared, and their quantitative differences were examined. 204 soil samples were collected from a total of 102 areas according to rock types. These samples were tested to measure grain size, water content, and unit weight, along with XRF and XRD analyses. The topsoil and subsoil of the soil samples were also analyzed. The results of this research showed that the topsoil and subsoil had different physical characteristics, and that the chemical alteration index of the topsoil was higher than that of the subsoil. This would imply that the topsoil was high in clay minerals since it was directly affected by weathering more than the subsoil. In particular, vermiculite, one of the final products generated from weathering, was common in the topsoil.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.24-27
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• 2005

This study has focused on investigation on As and heavy metal contamination derived from metalliferous mining activities in the Choongbuk Province in Korea. Soil, mine effluent, surface water and ground water samples were taken in and around 27 abandoned metal mines, and analyzed for As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn using AAS and anions in water samples using IC. In general, the heavy metal concentrations in soils decreased with Increasing distance from the each mine audit. Tailings and mine waste soils from several mines contained over the guideline of Soil Conservation Act in Korea. Soil samples from the Seobo, Honga, Daehwa, Jeungjadong, Youngbo and Munbaek mines contained over the action levels of the metals due to intensive mining activities. Therefore, a proper remediation work needs to control the metal dispersion around the mines.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.494-504
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• 2020

Ten historic sites (denoted as A- J in this study) of a tomb were found during the construction of the east-west expressway in District 2 of Hyangnam, Hwaseong, which is implemented by the Gyeonggi-do headquarters of the Korea Land & Housing Corporation. Thetombswere first detected at siteH, and further investigations revealed various tombs from the Three Kingdoms period; artifacts such as gilt-bronze shoes and caps were excavated from wooden coffins in the tombs. The pottery examined in this study was the only pottery artifact excavated from the site. Its raw clay was soft and loose, reddish brown, and had quartz and feldspar particles of < 1 mm, which appeared to have been added as reinforcing agents. The firing temperature of the pottery was estimated to be under 800-870 ℃ as the mica remains and tridimite, which is the phase transition mineral of quartz, was not produced; a slight endothermic peak was also detected because of the hydration of sericite at 800 ℃. The condition of the artifact was severely weakened because of various factors, such as soil pressure from the stratum formed over the site and repeated freezing and thawing. The artifact could not be collected alone, and thus, surrounding soil that had attached to the artifact was also collected; the artifact was transported to the laboratory and conservation treatment was conducted in a safe and systematic manner.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.101-112
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• 2006

A Geographic Information System (GIS) was developed to estimate basin-wide soil losses using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). It was applied to estimate the annual average soil losses from the Saemangeum watershed. The USLE factors for each subarea of uniform land use and treatments were estimated from the GIS routines from digital topographic maps, land cover and detailed soil maps. A routine was developed to estimate the averaged cropping management factors (C) of USLE for multi-cropping farmlands, based on cropping system records from the district offices. The resulting C factors ranged from 0.28 to 0.35 for multi-cropping areas. The estimated annual average soil loss was approximately 2.9 million tonnes. Typical soil losses from different land uses were 0.8 t/ha at paddies, 33.7 t/ha at uplands and 1.1 t/ha from forested mountains. It was also found that 6.0% of the arable land of the watershed possessed high risks of soil losses, and conservation measures were needed to reduce soil losses.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.156-168
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• 2016

The Korean government is planning to invest a lot of funds for conservation of the soil. Accordingly, it needs quantitative information on the soil. This paper attempts to analyze the total value of soil quantitatively: the total economic value of soil can be divided into use value and non-use value. To this end, we apply a replacement cost method (RCM) and contingent valuation method (CVM). Especially, CVM is most widely used to measure the non-use value such as environment goods. We employed the one-and-one-half-bounded dichotomous choice (OOHBDC) for willingness to pay (WTP) elicitation and a spike model. The monthly mean WTP was estimated to be KRW 3,949 per household for the next 10 years, which is statistically significant at the 1% level. Expanding the value to the relevant population gives us KRW 897.9 billion per year and as of the end of 2015, the non-use value of soil was assessed to be KRW 838.6 billion. Meanwhile, use value is subdivided into direct use value and indirect use value. This value was calculated KRW 3,277 trillion and KRW 51.8 trillion, respectively. As a result, total economic value of soil is estimated to be KRW 3,330 trillion in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.149-155
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• 2003

Objectives of this research were to fractionate heavy metals in soil samples in the upper Okdong River basin and to assess the potential pollution index of each metal fraction. Soil samples were collected from cultivated land soils and analyzed for physical and chemical properties. pH of cultivated soils ranged from 5.2 to 7.6. Contents of total kelhaldal nitrogen and loss on ignition were in the ranges of 0.6∼2.5%, and 1.9∼12.9%, respectively. Heavy metals in the cultivated land soils were higher in the abandoned closed coal mine near field soils than those in the paddy soils. Total concentrations of metals in the cultivated land soils were in the orders of Zn > Pb > Ni > Cu > Cd, exceed the corrective action level of the Soil Environment Conservation Law and higher than the naturals were abundance levels reported from uncontaminated cultivated land soils. Mobile fractions of metals were relatively small compared to the total concentrations. Soil Pollution Assesment Index(SPAI) values of each fraction of metals were leveled from Non polluted to Moderately polluted based on total concentrations. SPAI values of mobil fractions were lower than those of immobile fractions. Results on metal fractions and SPAI values of the cultivated land soils indicate that field soils samples were contaminated with heavy metals and had potential to cause a detrimental effects on plants. A prompt countermeasure to prevent field soils in the abandoned closed coal mine near fields are urgently needed.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.14-24
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• 2021

A plant community is a group of populations that coexist in space and interact directly or indirectly with the environment. In this paper, we determined the pattern of tree species composition in response to soil variables in Khadimnagar National Park (KNP), which is one of the least studied tropical forests in Bangladesh. Soil and vegetation data were collected from 71 sample plots. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) with associated Monte Carlo permutation tests (499 permutations) was carried out to determine the most significant soil variable and to explore the relationship between tree species distribution and soil variables. Soil pH and clay content (pH with p<0.01 and Clay content with p<0.05) were the most significant variables that influence the overall tree species distribution in KNP. Soil pH is related to the distribution and abundance of Syzygium grande and Magnolia champaca, which were mostly found and dominant species in KNP. Some species were correlated with clay content such as Artocarpus chaplasha and Cassia siamea. These observations suggest that both the physico-chemical properties of soil play a major role in shaping the tree distribution in KNP. Hence, these soil properties should take into account for any tree conservation strategy in this forest.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.25
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• pp.35-50
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• 2021

This study analyzed the basic properties of soil material gathered around Maegok-dong in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do Province (hereafter, "Maegok soil") and the physicochemical changes in the Maegok soil resulting from the addition of other clay materials in order to present scientific information about the properties of clay available for pottery production. Gravel, coarse sand, and fine sand account for 73% of the total mass of the Maegok soil. Therefore, it required refinement through sifting in order to serve in pottery clay. After sifting, the amount of silt and clay in the soil increased to 95% of the total mass. However, since it lacked plasticity and viscosity, buncheong soil was added. When it was mixed with bungcheong soil at a ratio of 7:3, Maegok soil improved as pottery clay as its viscosity increased, demonstrating compositional properties appropriate for ceramic clay even after firing. Further, its water-absorption rate was decreased to 0.40. This means that soil gathered from anywhere can be used for pottery-making by refining its original properties and through mixture with clay with specific components which help the pottery maintain its shape even after firing.